All things Explorer and Expedition Yachts

While I was at the Monaco Yacht show I inspected a number of Explorer Yachts and Long Range Yachts.

Alumercia is a boat I have seen a number of times over the years and a proven world cruising yacht. She was purchased about 4 years ago and had a very complete refit and modernization. She is heavely built out of aluminum by Heesen Yachts and designed by Ripack. The history is interesting as the original owner of Alumercia owned a number of aluminum manufaturing plants and provided all of the aluminum to the yard, hence the name.

Most of the interior was changed in the refit and is now a warm modern style. The on deck master is large and has great window space. There is a open over area included in the master and extensive hanging lockers and storage plus a large his and her head.

One of the great feautres is her large aft deck which can be fully enclosed and heated or left open.

The flybridge has been modernized with a large hot tub, raised forward seating and comfortable lounging areas.

The engine room was gone through and upgraded, like many more recent Explorer yachts she has highly efficent Azipod drives which along with the main engines and gens were overhauled.

So I was reading about some of the parts of the Malaysia airline that washed up on the Island of Pemba. The loss of this aircraft is an extremely sad event and the fact that it has not been located very difficult for many.

I wanted to check where it was so I did a search, these are some of the links I came up with.

What I learned was it is a stunning place and somewhere I would love to visit.

So put it on your list to stop there on your worldwide cruise on your Explorer Yacht.

I usually do not report on vessels of this size but this is just a wonderful sweet coastal cruising Explorer Yacht. She does not have the range for world cruising on her own bottom but would be easy to ship to exotic areas of the world and then cruise extensively from there.

She is in very good condition over all, the engine room is excellent and has been updated and the bilges and tech areas are great.

I really love the main deck and the way the saloon, galley and pilothouse are integrated. She has a comfortable fly bridge that has a folding mast and Bimini .

The engine room is very well done and easy to service all the equipment.

I would recommend this boat to someone who wants to cruise with family and friends without crew.

“Finding Chagos” is a fun read about surviving a world gone to wild on your Explorer Yacht.

It was written by a person who together with her husband has converted a number of vessels into Explorer Yachts and many of the places talked about are areas that she has cruised with her husband and children.

She is passionate about global climate change and the effects man is having on the world today.

I had the pleasure of spending 2 days onboard Rogue the 90’ (27.4m) Displacement Catamara in Nova Scotia. This is a great seaworthy highly efficient recently converted Explorer Yacht that can be used for a number of different applications from family cruising, shadow boat, research vessels, they have had enquires for very lucrative commercial charters , submarine carrier, the list goes are far as you can imagine.

The first question I often get when speaking or writing about EXPLORER /EXPEDITION YACHTS is what are they? An EXPLORER Yacht is a purpose built or converted vessel that is created for long distance cruising to remote areas of the world. The purpose (mission profile) may be varied, extended family exploration, worldwide big game fishing or fly fishing, remote dive expedition, a desire to expand your cruising area, a wish to be more autonomous when you are cruising, a combination of these or many other reasons. The features needed to meet the mission profile is what separates the true EXPLORER yacht from a “Big White Yacht” or even one of the many “Trawler” designs on the market which are more coastal or near coastal cruisers . There are “long range Yachts” and other yachts that meet some or a lot of the features and qualities found in an EXPLORER yacht and depending on your mission this maybe all that you need for your voyage of exploration.The features and qualities that set an EXPLORER yacht apart are many and I am just going to touch on a few key points. First and foremost they must be designed and built to handle extreme weather conditions, i.e. very sea worthy. Safety and comfort of the passengers and crew should always be at the forefront of the design and purchasing criteria.

An EXPLORER yacht should have a very efficient and sea-kindly hull form. Please note that I am use “sea-kindly” here and “sea-worth” above, these two terms are not the same, you can have one without the other which can make for a safe but uncomfortable vessel or a comfortable vessel that has reduced sea worthiness. To obtain this criteria the vessel should be a FULL DISPLACEMENT hull form. Please visit All Ocean Yachts website to see a number of write ups regarding this. The high efficiency hull form should be coupled with good fuel volume to obtain at least a 4000nm range at 10 knots, more is better.

All Ocean Yacht is always looking at new high efficiency propulsion systems and energy systems like the new batteries, chargers and converters that are being developed.

An EXPLORER yacht MUST be very easy to maintain and operate. This is important in a number of ways and is a key difference between many long range yachts and trawlers being built and a true EXPLORER. Every feature and item on the exterior and interior of the vessel should be considered against this criteria. An EXPLORER yacht can look like a white yacht by replacing teak rails or decking with stainless or cutting edge deck systems like Stone Decking. EXPLORER yachts do thousands of miles a year and up keep and the quality of materials and systems are critical to simplify upkeep. The engine room is of key importance and the KISS principle should always be in play. Using proven high wear equipment in a large well laid out engine room designed for ease of service by crew is a MUST. An engineer must smile when he walks in.

If you would like more information on Explorer yachts please contact us. The highly experienced team at All Ocean Yachts looks forward to discussing your Explorer yacht with you and finding the right vessel to meet your dreams.

I have seen a lot of different conversion in all sizes and types but ROGUE is the first commercial cat that I have seen done and it is done well. This is a 2004 hull converted in 2015 by a company that has done conversions on shrimp boats and other vessels in the past. At 90′ and 30′ beam she does have a lot of volume, her gross tonnage is 140 which is impressive for a vessel of her size. The 30′ beam gives her huge interior and exterior deck space. She has a 12 knot cruising speed, top speed of 16 knots, her cat form makes her a very low resistance vessel. This low resistance means that a 12 knots she has a range of 6000 nm, over 7000 nm at slower speeds, with just 7,800 gallons of fuel. She is powered by highly reliable twin 400 hp NTA855 Cummins engines, this is the A rated naturally aspirated model used on many commercial vessels.

The huge deck spaces and great stability allow her to carry a wide range of toys. She carries a 25′ SAFE boat as her primary tender and can lift and fit toys like submarines, cars or other boats up to 5 tons (11,000 pds).

The exterior of Rogue may be commercial but her interior is light clean and modern done to yacht standards. She has a great on deck galley and master stateroom plus two guest staterooms down, a captain’s cabin in the wheelhouse and crews quarters with lounge.

Galley with large window

Guest cabin

Guest cabin

Guest cabin

Guest head

Master stateroom

Master stateroom

Master head

Bridge with excellent visibility

Extra large saloon

TV lounge and dining

The engine room is everything you would expect a from a high quality commercial vessel that has had yacht conversions made to it. Generators are in sound shields and other equipment has been isolated for sound.

Port 20KW generator

Starboard upper engine room

Port solar control panel and batteries

Rogue is a great vessel as she sits for world exploring or she can be fitted out to meet a wide variety of mission profiles.

Rogue is FOR SALE, please contact me for price, location and to answer any questions you have.

There are 12 Delta Marine Yachts on the market as of 5/19/2016

They range in size from 156′ (47.5m) to 70′ (21m) and age from 2009 to 1985. Some are full displacement based of proven fishing hull designs, some of semi-displacement and some have a combination of features.

She has just come on the market after finishing her extended world cruising.She has only had two owners and they have both taken care of her extremely well. I have known the boat over the years and not only were her owner’s excellent but the crew has always been outstanding!

CV-9 Chart track of where her present owner and crew have taken her. Over 100,000NM

I inspected her in Fort Lauderdale Fl USA two weeks ago and she really showed no age. I think that besides her great crew the owner’s have always been willing to keep her in top condition. In 2013 they spend over $4 million on her at Delta Marine. The upgrade and renewed all of the system and she sparkles in side and out. The engine room was updated and looks like 2015 boat.

The exterior and interior look as good as the engine room. She carries a nice 19′ tender, that I think could be increased to 22′.

CV9 really is ready to go around the world again today.

I am not going to go into the interior except to say that the photos on the attached listings look exactly she looks today.

CV9 is going to make another owner had his family very happy with their world cruising experience.

Contact: John DeCaro for more insight on the proven Delta Marine Explorer.

Built in 2008 of high strength aluminum she has a roomy 19′ beam and a easy draft of 5′. SAFIRA cruises at a comfortable 10 knots with a range of 3000 nm powered by twin 425 hp Vovo Penta A rated engines.

Profile

SAFIRA has a large master amidships with lots of storage and a spacious head done in granite.

Master Stateroom and head

Master head

Master head and show

Guest stateroom and head

Guest staterooms and head

There are two lower single cabins with upper berths forward and a under and over cabin for a total of 10 including the owner. There are also comfortable crews quarters aft for two to three crew or for extra kids. If preferred it would be very easy to convert the forward two cabins to a VIP queen cabin.

Pilothouse

As you would expect for a Explorer built for a Admiral, the pilothouse is very well thought out and equipped for world cruising.

Galley

The Galley is large and positioned to service the breakfast bar, saloon and the wheelhouse for those late night coffees and snacks while on watch. There is ample dry and cold storage found here and throughout the vessel.

Main saloon looking aft

Main saloon looking forward

The main saloon is bright and airy when the windows shades are open and offers comfortable seating for dining and lounging. The galley can be opened or closed for seating and eating or to be a service buffet and it makes clean up easy!

Fly bridge forward seating

The under cover helm is surrounded by two large settees that allow the captain to interact while piloting SAFIRA or as a great social area at anchor.

Dining area with bar and BBQ

Aft of the forward seating is a separate dining and social area with bar and BBQ. Aft of this is a sunning or tender storage space.

Engine room

The engine room is aft with access from the side deck or the stern. True to it’s heritage it is extremely well thought out and laid out. It has high quality equipment that is easy to see and service. This is a true little ship engine room!

Crew lounge

Aft of the engine room is the crew’s quarters that have a comfortable lounge and two staterooms.